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Amid product scandals, corporate malpractices, and the proliferation of misinformation, consumers are becoming increasingly more skeptical about the brands they purchase. Transparency is often hailed as a strategic imperative to reassure consumers and increase brand trust; however, its deployment can be complex. With additional transparency, consumers may become overloaded with information, and the brand may be exposed to unwanted external scrutiny. Consequently, before disclosing strategically sensitive information, brands need more insight into how increasing transparency might translate into strategically desirable consumers' brand evaluations. Addressing this need, we examine how transparency initiatives translate into consumers' evaluation of brands by delineating the dimensions of the perceived brand transparency construct, namely, observability, comprehensibility, and intentionality. Next, we use this conceptualization to develop and validate a scale to measure perceived brand transparency. We close with a brand transparency research agenda, as well as practical guidance for managers considering investing in strategic transparency initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge transfer (CT) crystals exhibit unique electronic and magnetic properties with interesting applications. We present a rational and easy guide which allows to foresee the effective charge transfer co‐crystal production and that is based on the comparison of the frontier molecular orbital (MO) energies of a donor and acceptor couple. For the sake of comparison, theoretical calculations have been carried out by using the cheap and fast PM6 semiempirical Hamiltonian and pure HF/cc‐pVTZ level of the theory. The results are then compared with experimental results obtained both by chemical (bromine and iodine were used as the acceptor) and electrochemical doping (exploiting an original experimental set‐up by this laboratory: the electrochemical transistor). Infra‐red vibrational experimental results and theoretically calculated spectra are compared to assess both the effective donor‐acceptor (D/A) charge‐transfer and transport mechanism (giant IRAV polaron signature). XPS spectra have been collected (carbon (1 s) and iodine (3d5/2)) signals, yielding further evidence of the effective formation of the CT anthracene:iodine complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing experts are tasked with making important decisions that influence firms' performance. Some decision tasks are decomposable and can be broken down into smaller parts (e.g., pricing new products). Others are non‐decomposable and are challenging to break down (e.g., selecting creative work for advertising campaigns). The literature remains divided on whether expertise aids decision‐makers in addressing these different decision tasks, as well as how different decision‐making processes (critical analysis, intuition, introspection) improve decision‐makers' performance when they face these tasks. Using experiments with comparative samples of senior marketing managers (experts) and general public participants (non‐experts), we test whether expertise provides advantages when making decisions. Our results suggest that experts perform better than the general public with decomposable decision tasks, though not with non‐decomposable decision tasks. Furthermore, decision‐makers who rely on critical analysis perform better compared to intuition when addressing decomposable decision tasks, but the decision process is less important with non‐decomposable decision tasks. These findings provide insight into the conceptual boundaries of marketing professionals' expertise. Managers could apply these insights to potentially save resources (e.g., time, finances) by delegating decisions to more junior staff or even by leveraging external counsel through crowdsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how firms, through characteristics of physical environments, can inspire consumers to engage in creating and posting environment-cued indirect advertising, or what is commonly known as "Instagramming." The first study is used to qualitatively understand what makes an environment "Instagrammable" from the designer perspective. Emergent themes are used to inform a second study, a quantitative analysis of 43,004 instances of indirect advertising gathered by scraping Instagram postings from 97 environments in four prominent pop culture museums. After manually sorting the data, both artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled computer vision and manual coding are used to quantify multiple environment characteristics. Analysis reveals how different environment characteristics affect the creation of indirect advertising. Environments that use more interactive props, color, and brightness are associated with greater indirect advertising. Except in limited cases, most design themes have no effects—or negative effects—on indirect advertising. This article also contributes to the emerging literature on computer vision by showcasing how AI can offer insight for better understanding shared digital content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chronic ocular surface pain (COSP) is described as a persistent, moderate-to-severe pain at the ocular surface lasting more than 3 months. Symptoms of COSP have a significant impact on patients' vision-dependent activities of daily living (ADL) and distal health-related quality of life (HRQoL). To adequately capture patient perspectives in clinical trials, patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures must demonstrate sufficient evidence of content validity in the target population. This study aimed to explore the patient experience of living with COSP and evaluate content validity of the newly developed Chronic Ocular Pain Questionnaire (COP-Q) for use in COSP clinical trials. Methods: Qualitative, combined concept elicitation (CE) and cognitive debriefing (CD) interviews were conducted with 24 patients experiencing COSP symptoms in the USA. Interviews were supplemented with real-time data collection via a daily diary app task in a subset of patients (n = 15) to explore the day-to-day patient experience. Three healthcare professionals (HCPs) from the USA, Canada, and France were also interviewed to provide a clinical perspective. CE results were used to further inform development of a conceptual model and to refine PRO items/response options. CD interviews assessed relevance and understanding of the COP-Q. Interviews were conducted across multiple rounds to allow item modifications and subsequent testing. Results: Eye pain, eye itch, burning sensation, eye dryness, eye irritation, foreign body sensation, eye fatigue, and eye grittiness were the most frequently reported symptoms impacting vision-dependent ADL (e.g., reading, using digital devices, driving) and wider HRQoL (e.g., emotional wellbeing, social functioning, work). COP-Q instructions, items, and response scales were understood, and concepts were considered relevant. Feedback supported modifications to instruction/item wording and confirmed the most appropriate recall periods. Conclusions: Findings support content validity of the COP-Q for use in COSP populations. Ongoing research to evaluate psychometric validity of the COP-Q will support future use of the instrument in clinical trial efficacy endpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) of colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major hurdle for immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapies. Hence characterization of the signaling pathways driving T cell exhaustion within TME is a critical need for the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and the development of effective therapies. We previously showed that (i) the adaptor protein Rai is a negative regulator of T cell receptor signaling and T helper 1 (Th1)/Th17 cell differentiation; and (ii) Rai deficiency is implicated in the hyperactive phenotype of T cells in autoimmune diseases. Methods: The expression level of Rai was measured by qRT-PCR in paired peripheral blood T cells and T cells infiltrating tumor tissue and the normal adjacent tissue in CRC patients. The impact of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α on Rai expression was evaluated in T cells exposed to hypoxia and by performing chromatin immunoprecipitation assays and RNA interference assays. The mechanism by which upregulation of Rai in T cells promotes T cell exhaustion were evaluated by flow cytometric, qRT-PCR and western blot analyses. Results: We show that Rai is a novel HIF-1α-responsive gene that is upregulated in tumor infiltrating lymphocytes of CRC patients compared to patient-matched circulating T cells. Rai upregulation in T cells promoted Programmed cell Death protein (PD)-1 expression and impaired antigen-dependent degranulation of CD8+ T cells by inhibiting phospho-inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3, a central regulator of PD-1 expression and T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity. Conclusions: Our data identify Rai as a hitherto unknown regulator of the TME-induced exhausted phenotype of human T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although governments and organizations are increasingly addressing the importance of diversity and inclusion policies, LGBTQIA+ consumers still experience instances of discrimination and stigmatization in the market. Research identifying the barriers and struggles that these consumers face is therefore imperative in order to inspire more inclusive marketplace practices. By combining bibliometric and automated text mining methods, this article systematically reviews the existing scholarship on LGBTQIA+ issues at the intersection of marketing and public policy and identifies five thematic clusters: consumer experiences, marginalized consumer identities, imagery creation in advertising, marketplace policies, and minority targeting strategies. Further, this article plots the temporal evolution of this literature domain and identifies three substantive phases: crisis, marketization, and advocacy. The outcome is a phasic framework that unpacks how the LGBTQIA+ consumer market emerged and evolved. This conceptual framework can be used to understand and strategically invigorate research that leads to more inclusive marketing and public policy efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer surveillance is a pervasive marketing practice that involves the collection, usage, and storage of customers' data from transactions, loyalty programs, and social media. Customer data are valuable to firms in gaining or maintaining an edge over competitors by developing superior customer insights that may assist product or service innovations. However, customer surveillance practices also risk customer relationships by potentially activating privacy and data security concerns. This article explores customer insight strategies that focus customer surveillance by assessing the insight value of data sources to avoid unnecessary data collection and capture. Three prediction experiments show that three distinct data source attributes, namely data quantity, data detail, and data content, are diagnostic of the prediction accuracy of customer psychographic characteristics and behavioral intentions. By demonstrating that customer insights are more (or less) valuable when derived from different data sources, this article shows that "more" data is not necessarily better. We advocate a smarter approach to customer surveillance practices that are selective in choosing to capture customer data that can yield more accurate customer insights while reducing the risk of jeopardizing customer relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many candidate drugs for dry eye disease (DED) have been assessed over the years in pursuit of demonstrating efficacy in both signs and symptoms. However, patients with DED have very limited treatment options for management of both signs and symptoms of DED. There are several potential reasons behind this including the placebo or vehicle response, which is a frequent issue observed in DED trials. A high magnitude of vehicle response interferes with the estimation of a drug's treatment effect and may lead to failure of a clinical trial. To address these concerns, Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society International Dry Eye Workshop II taskforce has recommended a few study design strategies to minimize vehicle response observed in DED trials. This review briefly describes the factors that lead to placebo/vehicle response in DED trials and focuses on the aspects of clinical trial design that can be improved to mitigate vehicle response. In addition, it presents the observations from a recent ECF843 phase 2b study, wherein the study design approach consisted of a vehicle run-in phase, withdrawal phase, and masked treatment transition, and led to consistent data for DED signs and symptoms and reduced vehicle response post randomization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many retailers invest in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiency or enhance customer experience. However, AI often disrupts employees' ways of working causing them to resist change, thus threatening the successful embedding and sustained usage of the technology. Using a longitudinal, multi-site ethnographic approach combining 74 stakeholder interviews and 14 on-site retail observations over a 5-year period, this article examines how employees' practices change when retailers invest in AI. Practice co-evolution is identified as the process that undergirds successful AI integration and enables retail employees' sustained usage of AI. Unlike product or practice diffusion, which may be organic or fortuitous, practice co-evolution is an orchestrated, collaborative process in which a practice is co-envisioned, co-adapted, and co-(re)aligned. To be sustained, practice co-evolution must be recursive and enabled via intentional knowledge transfers. This empirically-derived recursive phasic model provides a roadmap for successful retail AI embedding, and fruitful future research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is hard to establish whether a company supports internal sustainability efforts (ISEs) like gender equality, diversity, and general staff welfare, not least because of a lack of methodologies operationalizing these internal sustainability practices, and of data honestly documenting such efforts. We developed and validated a six-dimension framework reflecting Internal Sustainability Efforts (ISEs), gathered more than 350K employee reviews of 104 major companies across the whole US for the (2008-2020) years, and developed a deep-learning framework scoring these reviews in terms of the six ISEs. Commitment to ISEs manifested itself at the micro-level—companies scoring high in ISEs enjoyed high stock growth. This new conceptualization of ISEs offers both theoretical implications for the literature on corporate sustainability and practical implications for companies and policy makers. To further explore these implications, researchers need to add potentially missing ISEs, to do so for more companies, and establish the causal relationship between company success and ISEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article addresses a long‐debated topic related to the hieroglyphic script from the island of Crete, namely the status of its sign‐list. The signs of this script are predominantly image‐based and as such their inherent position as bona fide signs of writing or, alternatively, decorative symbols with no specific relation to language has raised issues of inclusion or exclusion from the sign‐list as presented in the standard corpus of inscriptions. This article aims to propose a new approach based on a contextual, distributional, and structural architecture of criteria. The goal is to reach a balanced reassessment of the evidence and contribute to a definitive sign‐list. This represents a fundamental step for any cogent decipherment attempt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kadmos is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Logopedia e Comunicazione is the property of Edizioni Centro Studi Erickson SpA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: To meet the complex technology needs of retail clients, technology providers must work in a close partnership with their clients and co-envisage a strategic vision for the role that technology should play in the client's value chain. However, many providers lack the sales capabilities needed to do this. This study aims to examine the need for providers to transition from transaction-oriented to solution selling-oriented approaches. To do so, this study explores the impact outcomes of a knowledge-exchange intervention co-designed with a partner from industry. Design/methodology/approach: Building on empirical insights from an ongoing research programme that examines retail technology implementations, this study developed a knowledge exchange intervention consisting of planning discursive channels, co-defining the scope, co-developing knowledge, executing the intervention and assessing impact outcomes. Discursive channels – multi-lateral communication channels that allow researchers to work collaboratively with the research partner and other stakeholders – emerge as a critical knowledge-exchange mechanism to generate impact outcomes. Findings: The knowledge-exchange intervention provides impact by enabling the industry partner to establish cross-functional solutions teams, assess retail clients' technological needs, aid decision-making, define barriers to implementation and develop a coaching approach to support clients' technological investments. Impact outcomes vary in magnitude, intensity, scope and duration and can also be unintentional where unplanned changes are embedded into practice. Originality/value: This impact framework offers a roadmap to orchestrate impact outcomes that emerge from academic enquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-based evaluation is extensively used to estimate the performance and reliability of dependable systems. Traditionally, these systems were small and self-contained, and the main challenge for model-based evaluation has been the efficiency of the solution process. Recently, the problem of specifying and maintaining complex models has increasingly gained attention, as modern systems are characterized by many components and complex interactions. Components share similarities, but at the same time, also exhibit variations in their behavior due to different configurations or roles in the system. From the modeling perspective, variations lead to replicating and altering a small set of base models multiple times. Variability is taken into account only informally, by defining a sample model and explaining its possible variations. In this article, we address the problem of including variability in performability models, focusing on stochastic activity networks (SANs). We introduce the formal definition of stochastic activity networks templates (SAN-T), a formalism based on SANs with the addition of variability aspects. Differently from other approaches, parameters can also affect the structure of the model, like the number of cases of activities. We apply the SAN-T formalism to the modeling of the backbone network of an environmental monitoring infrastructure. In particular, we show how existing SAN models from the literature can be generalized using the newly introduced formalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Charge-Transfer Complexes: Halogen-Doped Anthracene as a Case of Study," presents a method for predicting effective charge transfer in donor-acceptor co-crystals. The study compares the frontier molecular orbital energies of the donor-acceptor couple using theoretical and experimental data. The article includes an image of a vacuum evaporation setup with iodine as the acceptor. The authors of the article are Simone Gilioli, Roberto Giovanardi, Camilla Ferrari, Monica Montecchi, Andrea Gemelli, Andrea Severini, Fabrizio Roncaglia, Alberta Carella, Francesco Rossella, Davide Vanossi, Andrea Marchetti, Raanan Carmieli, Luca Pasquali, and Claudio Fontanesi. [Extracted from the article]

The precursors have significant influence on the catalytic activity of nonprecious electrocatalysts for effective water splitting. Herein, we report active electrocatalysts based on cobalt oxide (Co3O4) hierarchical nanostructures derived from four different precursors of cobalt (acetate, nitrate, chloride, and sulfate salts) using the low‐temperature aqueous chemical growth method. It has been found that the effect of precursor on the morphology of nanostructured material depends on the synthetic method. The Co3O4 nanostructures exhibited cubic phase derived from these four precursors. The Co3O4 nanostructures obtained from chloride precursor have demonstrated improved oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) compared to other precursors due relatively higher content of Co3O4 nanostructures at the surface of material. An overpotential of 400 mV versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 10 mA cm−2 was observed for HER. The Co3O4 nanostructures derived from the chloride precursor have shown favorable reaction kinetics via 34 mV dec−1 value of the Tafel slope for HER reaction. The Co3O4 nanostructures derived from chloride precursor have also shown an excellent HER durability for 15 hr in alkaline media. Furthermore, the OER functional characterization was carried out onto Co3O4 nanostructures derived from chloride precursor exhibited 220 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 56 mV dec−1. Importantly, the reason behind the favorable catalytic activity of Co3O4 nanostructures derived from chloride precursor was linked to one order of magnitude smaller charge transfer resistance and higher amount of Co3O4 content at the surface of nanostructures than the Co3O4 nanostructures derived from other precursors. The performance of Co3O4 nanostructures derived from chloride precursor via the wet chemical method suggests that cobalt chloride precursor could be of great interest for the development of efficient, stable, nonprecious, and environmentally friendly electrocatalysts for the chemical energy conversion and storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Psicoterapia is the property of Revista de Psiquiatria y Psicologia Humanista, S.L. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Kadmos is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

What is the origin of the earliest script in Europe? Is it invented locally or borrowed from an external template? How can we go about addressing this problem? A common view is that the script in question, Cretan Hieroglyphic, is locally created but externally inspired, probably through an influence from Egypt. But this appreciation should be the result of a full examination of the evidence, rather than a superficial appraisal of the script signs. This article reframes this approach, starting with generic assessments on origin and stimulus, and so opens a new avenue that takes into account the following aspects: 1) the establishment of a methodology for cross-comparisons between the Egyptian and Cretan scripts; 2) the situated context of the Egyptian and Cretan scripts in the mid-3rd to late 3rd millennium b.c.e.; 3) the local Cretan seal imagery; and 4) case studies of sign shapes, representing physical and immaterial referents across the Egyptian Hieroglyphic and Cretan repertoires. Only from this broad, multicentric framework, which has input from archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, and paleography, can we establish a solid method to address the origin of Cretan Hieroglyphic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, wild edible alimurgic plants became an important alternative food source when poverty, wars or drought made it difficult to access crops. These plants were considered rich in highly nutritional compounds and also frequently used as food-medicine given their health-promoting properties. With the aim of improving our knowledge on the content of beneficial or detrimental compounds in relation with past local dietary and curative traditions, 12 wild food plant species were collected from two study areas selected for their very different degree of industrialization, urbanization, and conservation of local past traditions among the population: the Bologna province (Northern Italy) and the Middle Agri Valley (Southern Italy). Protein, polyphenol flavonoid and biogenic amine (both free and conjugated) contents and antioxidant activity of raw and boiled wild food plant extracts, and of cooking water were analyzed by means of spectrophotometric and high-performance liquid chromatography methods. The results demonstrated that most of the phenolic compounds were released in the cooking water which also showed the highest antioxidant activity. Seventeen different phenolic compounds were identified, of which the health-related luteolin, luteolin-7-glucoside and rutin were the most abundant (e.g., S. pratensis L. and C. intybus L.). On the other hand, biogenic amines were absent or present at very low levels in cooking water of those very same species (e.g., S. pratensis L., T. officinalis Weber, C. vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia and C. intybus L.) of which traditionally a decoction is used for therapeutic purposes. Free and conjugated spermidine and spermine were generally the most abundant biogenic amines, while none of the known detrimental monoamines (e.g., histamine) was detected. In conclusion, the present results seem to support past local popular traditions which indicated beneficial medical properties of some wild edible plant, as well as of their cooking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sharing economy has become an increasingly important concept for researchers and practitioners with the successes of Airbnb and Uber. Among all the studies of the sharing economy, research focusing on entrepreneurship only takes a small percentage and requires further development. As there have been few attempts at exploring the characteristics of and the relationships among the contributors and their publications in the field of research on the sharing economy and sharing economy entrepreneurship, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis using VOSViewer software to identify the most prominent topics, works, authors, institutions and journals in these fields. Future research directions of entrepreneurship in the sharing economy are also investigated. This paper enables scholars and journal editors to better understand the current state of the academic conversation and to determine the potential areas to further develop in the field of entrepreneurship in the sharing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrating solar power plants use mirrors to redirect solar radiation toward receivers. Mirrors (facets) are suitably shaped to optimize the radiation capture ratio. Because deviations from ideal shape/slope degrade optical efficiency, the availability of reliable instruments for 3D shape measurement is essential. This paper deals with an innovative instrument, named VISproLF, specific for the case of facets for the primary reflector of linear Fresnel collectors. The instrument is simply composed of a LCD screen and a digital camera; to avoid artifacts, the camera must be equipped with a high quality lens and its characteristic matrix and distortion coefficients have to be accurately evaluated. The arrangement of the LCD screen and camera around the facet must follow the simple rule to view from the camera the facet surface entirely covered by the image of the screen. Then, the position and attitude of the camera (first) and LCD screen (second) are accurately evaluated by a simple procedure based on the pinhole camera model, which makes the instrument self-calibrating. The shape and slope of the facet surfaces are obtained by processing five binary images by means of a completely digital method of which a detailed description is given. In the experimental arrangement used to prepare the present paper, the slope accuracy is about 0.2 mrad. With respect to the most common instruments based on the Fringe reflection technology, VISproLF offers two great advantages: full-digital image processing and a self-calibration feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gruppi is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

AMPing up cytotoxicity: Cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) form an immune synapse at the interface formed with their target cells and then reorient intracellular lytic granules toward the contact site to ensure efficient killing. Zurli et al. found that stimulation of the receptor CD2 on CTLs by CD58 on target B cells enhanced T cell receptor signaling during immune synapse formation. Phosphoproteomics analysis showed that CD2 stimulation led to activation of the metabolism-regulating kinase AMPK on lysosomes, which promoted lytic granule translocation to the immune synapse. Together, these findings suggest that targeting the CD2-AMPK axis may enhance CTL activity. Understanding the costimulatory signaling that enhances the activity of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) could identify potential targets for immunotherapy. Here, we report that CD2 costimulation plays a critical role in target cell killing by freshly isolated human CD8+ T cells, which represent a challenging but valuable model to gain insight into CTL biology. We found that CD2 stimulation critically enhanced signaling by the T cell receptor in the formation of functional immune synapses by promoting the polarization of lytic granules toward the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC). To gain insight into the underlying mechanism, we explored the CD2 signaling network by phosphoproteomics, which revealed 616 CD2-regulated phosphorylation events in 373 proteins implicated in the regulation of vesicular trafficking, cytoskeletal organization, autophagy, and metabolism. Signaling by the master metabolic regulator AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was a critical node in the CD2 network, which promoted granule polarization toward the MTOC in CD8+ T cells. Granule trafficking was driven by active AMPK enriched on adjacent lysosomes, revealing previously uncharacterized signaling cross-talk between vesicular compartments in CD8+ T cells. Our results thus establish CD2 signaling as key for mediating cytotoxic killing and granule polarization in freshly isolated CD8+ T cells and strengthen the rationale to choose CD2 and AMPK as therapeutic targets to enhance CTL activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Diffusion of fake news and pseudo-facts is becoming increasingly fast-paced and widespread, making it more difficult for the general public to separate reliable information from misleading content. The purpose of this article is to provide a more advanced understanding of the underlying processes that contribute to the spread of health- and beauty-related rumors and of the mechanisms that can mitigate the risks associated with the diffusion of fake news. Design/methodology/approach: By adopting denialism as a conceptual lens, this article introduces a framework that aims to explain the mechanisms through which fake news and pseudo-facts propagate within the health and beauty industry. Three exemplary case studies situated within the context of the health and beauty industry reveal the persuasiveness of these principles and shed light on the diffusion of false and misleading information. Findings: The following seven denialistic marketing tactics that contribute to diffusion of fake news can be identified: (1) promoting a socially accepted image; (2) associating brands with a healthy lifestyle; (3) use of experts; (4) working with celebrity influencers; (5) selectively using and omitting facts; (6) sponsoring research and pseudo-science; and (7)exploiting regulatory loopholes. Through a better understanding of how fake news spreads, brand managers can simultaneously improve the optics that surround their firms, promote sales organically and reinforce consumers' trust toward the brand. Originality/value: Within the wider context of the health and beauty industry, this article sets to explore the mechanisms through which fake news and pseudo-facts propagate and influence brands and consumers. The article offers several contributions not only to the emergent literature on fake news but also to the wider marketing and consumer behavior literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dependability and performance analysis of modern systems is facing great challenges: their scale is growing, they are becoming massively distributed, interconnected, and evolving. Such complexity makes model-based assessment a difficult and time-consuming task. For the evaluation of large systems, reusable submodels are typically adopted as an effective way to address the complexity and to improve the maintainability of models. When using state-based models, a common approach is to define libraries of generic submodels, and then compose concrete instances by state sharing, following predefined “patterns” that depend on the class of systems being modeled. However, such composition patterns are rarely formalized, or not even documented at all. In this paper, we address this problem using a model-driven approach, which combines a language to specify reusable submodels and composition patterns, and an automated composition algorithm. Clearly defining libraries of reusable submodels, together with patterns for their composition, allows complex models to be automatically assembled, based on a high-level description of the scenario to be evaluated. This paper provides a solution to this problem focusing on: formally defining the concept of model templates, defining a specification language for model templates, defining an automated instantiation and composition algorithm, and applying the approach to a case study of a large-scale distributed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the practice of writing on clay vessels in the Aegean during the Middle and early Late Bronze Age (1925/00-1470/60 BC, according to Manning 2010, 22, table 2.2), when two different scripts were used: Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. Inscribed pottery shows unique characteristics which makes it a valuable means of exploring Bronze Age cultural, social and economic aspects, by focusing on its purposes and the actors involved, at different stages, in producing and consuming it. The topic will be approached in a diachronic perspective to pinpoint elements of continuity, innovation and also interruption between the First and Second Minoan Palace periods, as far as issues of agency and literacy are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface formation between Ru and Si(001) has been studied by x-ray and ultraviolet photoemissions. The film properties were investigated, for metal deposition at room temperature, as a function of the Ru film thickness and as a function of the annealing temperature of a thick grown film. From the evolution of the Ru and Si core levels, we find that alloying takes place at the interface during growth and estimate the thickness of the intermixed region to be of the order of 15–20 ML. Annealing at increasingly high temperatures causes the formation of different silicide phases, which are discussed in relation to theoretical and experimental data on related transition metal silicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which modified the complex refractive index of a lithium fluoride crystal surface layer irradiated by low-energy electron. Theoretical model; Experimental procedures; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

Among natural hazards, mud volcanoes can damage property and infrastructures and affect hillslope evolution at different spatial and temporal scales. The results of 10-year-long multidisciplinary investigations performed on a Roman-age archaeological site, La Rovina di Montegibbio, are presented, showing a peculiar example of mutual interplay between human settlement and geological forcing in the mud-volcanic environment. The site (350 m a.s.l.) lies at the termination of the upper Secchia River catchment, near the town of Sassuolo (Modena Province). Here, a 4-km-long mud volcano belt borders the Apennines chain front, comprising one of the most prominent mud volcanoes of Italy (Salsa di Montegibbio), and the still-active chain hinge tectonics gives origin to gas and oil seeps. Based on geological, geoarchaeological, palaeobotanical, geochemical, geophysical records and analytical data, we unravel the onset, the evolution and the abandonment of the settlement in relation to the existence of a previously unknown mud volcano, belonging to the larger Montegibbio mud volcano system. The damages affecting the Roman-age buildings record the ground deformations in the context of mud volcano tectonics. In particular, the pattern of faults set buried under the archaeological site is shown and compared with that of the main mud volcano conduit. At least two Roman-age eruptive episodes have been recorded, whose ejected muds are geochemically characterized. The first recorded eruption must be regarded as the reason for the initial location and function of the sacred ancient settlement. The final site abandonment was because of subsequent severe ground deformations affecting the hillslope as a consequence of mud volcano activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afferent lymphatic vessels contribute to immunity by transporting antigen and leukocytes to draining lymph nodes (LNs) and are emerging as new players in the regulation of peripheral tolerance. Performing intravital microscopy in inflamed murine ear skin we found that migrating dendritic cells (DCs) and antigen-experienced effector T cells spend considerable time arresting or clustering within afferent lymphatic capillaries. We also observed that intralymphatic T cells frequently interacted with DCs. When imaging polyclonal T cells during an ongoing contact-hypersensitivity response, most intralymphatic DC-T cell interactions were short-lived. Conversely, during a delayed-type-hypersensitivity response, cognate antigen-bearing DCs engaged in long-lived MHCII-(I-A/I-E)-dependent interactions with antigen-specific T cells. Long-lived intralymphatic DC-T cell interactions reduced the speed of DC crawling but did not delay overall DC migration to draining LNs. While further consequences of these intralymphatic interactions still need to be explored, our findings suggest that lymphatic capillaries represent a unique compartment in which adaptive immune interaction and modulation occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of autonomous robotics and its applications (e.g. medical, competition, military), the biggest hurdle in developing mobile robots lies in endowing them with the ability to interact with the environment and to make correct decisions so that their tasks can be executed successfully. However, as the complexity of robotic systems grows, the need to organize and modularize software for their correct functioning also becomes a challenge, making the development of software for controlling robots a complex and intricate task. In the robotics domain, there is a lack of reference software architectures and, although most robot architectures available in the literature facilitate the creation process with their modularity, existing solutions do not provide development guidance on reusing existing modules. Based on the well-known IBM Autonomic Computing reference architecture (known as MAPE-K), this work defines a refined architecture following the Robotics perspective. To explore the capabilities of the proposed refinement, we implemented the RoCS (Robotics and Cognitive Systems) framework for autonomous robots. We successfully tested the framework under simulated robotics scenarios that mimic typical robotics tasks and highlight the framework reuse capability. Finally, we understand the proposed framework needs further experimental evaluation, particularly, assessments on real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar reflectance is one of the most important parameters characterizing the mirrors used to redirect the solar radiation toward a receiver in concentrating solar power plants. In Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES) Task III, an international group of experts is drafting the reflectance guidelines and debating the hard task of measuring off-normal near-specular solar-reflectance. Because of the lack of suitable commercial instruments, several research institutes are studying and setting up special equipment. Since 2012, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) proposed an articulated strategy based on modeling the hemispherical spectral reflectance with the equivalent model algorithm and the ratio of near-specular to hemispherical reflectance with the total integral scattering equation; in the latter, the roughness is replaced by the heuristic parameter σφ, nonphysically dependent on the acceptance angle. The solar mirror qualification experimental setup was conceived for measuring σφ. Recently, SolarPACES approved a new project to support the working group for improving the proposed instruments. The paper summarizes the ENEA strategy and presents the latest version of the instrument, SMQ2, discussing its several important new features: self-calibration, setup simplification, straightforward applicability to high specular mirrors, measurement-time cutoff, and acceptance-angle range extended up to 50 mrad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the changes in the absorption spectra induced by Co60 irradiation and temperature annealing for selected PbWO4 crystals. Shaping of the absorption spectrum by four color centers; Thermoluminescence (TSL) glow curves above room temperature; Determination of trap levels resulting from irradiation; Correlation between results obtained by TSL and Co60 irradiation induced absorption changes.

During the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) reactor operation time, the plasma will give rise to high energy neutron and gamma flux, and this intense radiation field will result in serious radiation damage and activation effects on various detectors components. In this paper, neutron detector candidates for the ITER radial neutron camera (RNC), i.e., scintillator components [crystal and plastic scintillators, optical windows, and photomultipliers (PMTs)] and single-crystal diamond detectors, were investigated to establish their radiation hardness and stability under gamma irradiation. Radiation test was carried out at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development Calliope plant (Casaccia R.C., Rome, Italy). The facility is a pool-type irradiation plant equipped with a 60Co source (energy = 1.25 MeV). Gamma radiation tests were performed in the dark and at room temperature for different total absorbed doses, as required for the application in ITER RNC. Scintillators, PMTs, and optical windows were irradiated up to around 100-kGy absorbed dose, while single-crystal diamond detectors up to around 5 MGy. Scintillators and optical windows transmittance measurements were performed in the UV-VIS range (300–700 nm), paying particular attention to the behavior at 390 and 420 nm (scintillating emission wavelengths). Samples were measured in the dark before and after irradiation and their performances were monitored at room temperature for some weeks in order to study the damage recovery in different conditions. For plastic scintillators, photobleaching and optical bleaching followed by thermal annealing processes in air were made to reduce the radiation damage. Quantum efficiency measurements were performed on the PMTs, and the pulse-height spectra and pulse shape capability of the scintillators were investigated by using gamma and neutron sources. The most relevant results of this paper concern the radiation damage observed in scintillators and diamond detectors. The crystalline scintillator sample showed much less radiation resistance than plastic scintillators. A strong damage to the silver deposition of the diamond contacts was observed already at 1.0 MGy, almost leading to contact destruction at 4.7 MGy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palynological researches have been carried out in the framework of cooperative projects with local and national institutions at the Villa Romana del Casale of Piazza Armerina, a small town in central Sicily. The site was studied within a multidisciplinary geo-bio-archaeological set of studies aiming at understanding the economy and environment at a local scale. Analyses allowed us to reconstruct the natural vs cultural landscape dynamics from Roman to medieval periods. On the basis of 85 samples, pollen diagrams show that the site has been built in a low forest cover area, with signs of both natural/semi-natural cover and complex anthropogenic activities. These activities include cereal fields and pastures. There is evidence of ornamental (e.g. Platanus, Buxus) and fruit trees (above all Olea, and also, e.g. Corylus, Prunus and Juglans). The research also includes a detailed study about the finding of Vitis pollen grains in the Roman site. In the subsequent phases, pollen shows again an open, fairly treeless, landscape with Mediterranean and hilly vegetation. Anthropogenic signs are evident in the form of groves and orchards. Our data bring evidence and details about the intense land exploitation that had contributed to transform the environment of central Sicily during the Middle and Late Holocene. Data demonstrate that archaeopalynology may be fruitfully regarded as a tool to understand the current landscape structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dramatic shift in system complexity is occurring, bringing monolithic system designs to be progressively replaced by modular approaches. In the latest years, this trend has been emphasized by the system of systems (SoS) concept, in which a complex system or application is the result of the integration of many independent, autonomous constituent systems (CS), brought together in order to satisfy a global goal under certain rules of engagement. The overall behavior of the SoS, emerging from such complex interactions and dependencies, poses several threats in terms of dependability, timeliness, and security, due to the challenging operating and environmental conditions caused by mobility, wireless connectivity, and the use of off-the-shelf components. Referring to our experience in mobile safety-critical applications gained from three different research projects, in this paper, we illustrate the challenges and benefits posed by the adoption of an SoS approach in designing, developing, and maintaining mobile safety-critical applications, and we report on some possible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summary: Nowadays, personal information is collected, stored, and managed through web applications and services. Companies are interested in keeping such information private due to regulation laws and privacy concerns of customers. Furthermore, the reputation of a company can be dependent on privacy protection, ie, the more a company protects the privacy of its customers, the more credibility it gets. This paper proposes an integrated approach that relies on models and design tools to help in the analysis, design, and development of web applications and services with privacy concerns. Using the approach, these applications can be developed consistently with their privacy policies to enforce them, protecting personal information from different sources of privacy violation. The approach is composed of a conceptual model, a reference architecture, and a Unified Modified Language Profile, ie, an extension of the Unified Modified Language for including privacy protection. The idea is to systematize the privacy concepts in the scope of web applications and services, organizing the privacy domain knowledge and providing features and functionalities that must be addressed to protect the privacy of the users in the design and development of web applications. Validation has been performed by analyzing the ability of the approach to model privacy policies from real web applications and by applying it to a simple application example of an online bookstore. Results show that privacy protection can be implemented in a model‐based approach, bringing values for the stakeholders and being an important contribution toward improving the process of designing web applications in the privacy domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]